Woohoo! Mine's the first Naruto/Katanagatari CrossOver FanFiction as of January 4th 2011! Yes!

That small outburst aside, enjoy.

In the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a young boy by the name of Naruto Uzumaki had just been torn from his home and dragged through the silent streets. After what felt like forever, the boy having been bound and gagged as the villagers began to cut into his flesh with various sharp and not-so-sharp instruments, spouting words like demon and filth as they did so, a malicious look in each of their eyes, the boy cried out in pain with each blow received.

As they prepared to deliver the finishing blow after letting the boy bleed out for a minute or two, stepping back to enjoy the results of their justice, a voice suddenly caught them off guard before they could approach the boy once more.

"Hold," a voice said from the darkness of the trees.

The next moment, a young woman dropped down from the shadows and into the alley, placing herself between the bleeding blond and the villagers. Her skin was pale, her frame thin and frail, her eyes a dark shade of purple. She wore a teal-colored kimono that stopped just above her knees with a pink sash at her waist. Her hair was a mix between dark green and forest green, pink patches in her hair that resembled cherry blossoms petals. Her hair flowed down her back past her waist, a perfectly round pink flower tied six inches above the end of her hair.

"Excuse me, but may I inquire as to why you are attacking this child?" the girl asked semi-courteously. "It is obvious that he can't do you any harm, and he clearly cannot defend himself either for that matter."

"Just get out of the way girl," a villager with a bloody steak knife spat angrily. "You're clearly not from here, so this doesn't concern you. If you leave the boy, then we promise not to hurt you as well."

The girl's expression was neutral as she turned around and faced the boy. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days, and was garbed in a dirty and torn shirt and pants. His hair was blond, and his eyes were blue like the ocean, six whisker marks on his cheeks which struck her as odd. For a few seconds more she took in every detail about him before turning back to the villagers.

"He has been cut repetitively," the girl said evenly as she turned her eyes back to the crowd. "Are you the ones who did this to the child?" she asked as she counted the bloody weapons in their hands, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. So what?" one of the villagers asked. "You going to do something about it?" he asked as he and the other villagers brought their weapons back out, pointing them at the girl so they could finally kill the demon brat once and for all. "Even if you aren't from here, we'll kill any demon lovers."

For a moment the girl was silent, looking at the cut up body of the young blond before turning her attention back to the villagers, bringing her hands across her chest in an X formation, much to the confusion of the villagers as it didn't resemble any fighting stance they'd ever seen before.

"Ninpou: Tsume Awase," the frail-looking girl intoned. A moment later, to the villager's horrors, the girls' nails suddenly became terrifyingly long, and sharp as daggers, the innocent look in her eyes dying in an instant as her once placid face became that of a trained killer. "Now. Let's see how you like being cut up."

The next moment much to the ANBU's horror, the frail girl began slaughtering every villager in the back alley, her body seeming to weigh nothing as she lept off the walls and down onto their backs, driving her nails into their skulls before leaping onto the next one and doing the same, killing one after another as though she were some kind of demon, a partially-hidden look of pleasure on her features as she cut them all down like wheat. At the same time in the corner of the back alley, the bleeding blond looked up, a mixed look of horror and amazement etched onto his face as the girl who came out of nowhere began doing to the villagers what they had done to them. The only difference however was that they didn't get up after a few minutes.

'I must alert the Hokage,' a dog-masked ANBU with silver hair thought as he watched this. 'This girl may be an enemy ninja in disguise.'

Once the last of the villagers had fallen dead, the purple-eyed girl snapped off her extended finger nails with little effort, tossing them aside into the nearby fence before walking over to the boy and brushing some of his hair out of his face after untying the ropes around his wrists and removing the gag from his mouth.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she looked into his eyes, now back to their kind and caring appearance.

"I-I am," the boy answered. "Th-thank you for saving me."

"It wasn't really any problem," the girl replied. "Numbers cannot make up for an absolute lack of strength."

The next moment, a half-dozen men in black cloaks with animal masks appeared, cornering both Naruto and the purple-eyed woman like rats in a trap. They all reached into their cloaks before pulling out katana or kunai, aiming them at the purple-eyed girl as they stepped over the slaughtered villagers, some merely stepping on them outright.

"Nee-chan! Run away!" the blond cried as he pointed over her shoulder. "The masked men will hurt you if you stay with me."

"Masked men?" the girl asked as she looked at the masked men approaching from behind her. 'Are they with the Maniwani?' she thought to herself warily, ready to fight once more.

"Stand down, all of you," an aged voice said from behind them. "Though this girl's methods may've been extreme, she chose to protect Naruto without even knowing him."

As the group of masked men parted, an elderly man in a white robe with a wide-brimmed hat stepped forward, the kanji for Fire Shadow written in black ink over a red portion of it. It was clear that the years had not been kind to him, as he had numerous wrinkles on his face, neck, and hands.

"Who are you?" the purple-eyed girl asked as she stood between the blond boy and the masked men once more, relaxing into a non-existent stance as she prepared herself to fight, should they turn out like the villagers she had killed off moments before.

"My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, I am the Hokage of this village," the old man now known as Sarutobi answered. "May I ask for your name young lady?" he asked.

"My name… is Nanami Yasuri," she answered in a whisper.

"Well, thank you very much Nanami," Sarutobi said with a slight bow. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall escort young Naruto home, and you may continue as you were."

"I do not think I should allow that. Or maybe I should? Well, actually, I think I shouldn't," the girl replied in a whisper, earning confused looks from a few of the ANBU at the contradictory way she spoke.

"And why exactly is that?" Sarutobi asked, trying to keep a level head about the unknown girl talking back to him.

"This child is clearly frightened by the villagers, who from what I've witnessed hate him for no reason, and would go as far as to try and kill him. From my perspective, he's be much safer with me," she said as she stood between the boy and the masked men. "That is, unless you would care to enlighten me as to the situation on hand. Otherwise, I may decide he shouldn't be left like this, and take him away from this pool of hatred whether you will allow it or not. After all, what could a child do to warrant such attempts on his life?" she asked, a smug look partially-hidden on her face.

Sarutobi rubbed the bridge of his nose as a sigh escaped his lips. It was bad enough that he couldn't do a thing about the villagers attacking the blond since he was a retired ninja and the Civilian Council had usurped most of his control over shinobi affairs, but now, the poor boy was being torn from his home and tormented in the middle of the night. At the very least, he owed this young lady an explanation, despite how she handled the villagers. Under normal circumstances he would not do as such, but she was acting like a mother bear protecting her cub, and he had the safety of his own ANBU to think of as well. Though this was bellied by her appearance, the woman's blood lust was practically palpable, though Naruto did not notice.

"Very well. I will explain why this has happened," Sarutobi responded as he held a hand out to the bleeding blond, only to feel a pang of regret as, instead of coming to his side, the boy clung to Nanami's. Much like a child would to their mother.

"Inu. Make sure this mess gets cleaned up by daybreak," Sarutobi whispered to the man before walking off towards the tower, Nanami and Naruto following a few steps behind him.

"Yes sir," Dog responded.

"No katon. The old-fashioned way," Sarutobi instructed.

Dog just sighed. 'Great. Now I can't read my book,' he sighed as he fingered the orange book in his tool pouch before pulling some garbage bags from a storage scroll. 'Why do I always get the dirty jobs?'

When the three arrived back at the Hokage tower, they made their way up to Sarutobi's office, but not before the secretary shot the blond a look of pure hatred. In response she received a murderous glare fro the purple-eyed woman, accompanied by the inhuman elongation of her nails. This caused the secretary to faint and fall backwards, her neck inadvertently snapping when it hit the corner of the desk with a *CRACK*. Naruto had fallen asleep long before they'd arrived at the corner, so he was not roused while being carried in the woman's arms.

After situating himself back in his office, Nanami wiping some of the blood off of Naruto's beaten body revealing unmarred skin underneath, likely the Kyuubi's influence, the man faced the woman in front of him as she laid the boy's head down in her lap. The way she stroked his hair as he slept was evidence of one who was not unused to caring for others, yet how someone like that could so callously take life he did not know. Hopefully he could convince the woman to leave Naruto back in his care. If he couldn't, though he was the Shinobi no Kami, the woman had positioned herself in a way that if she were to be attacked, she could readily use Naruto as a shield. Something he wouldn't risk as long as he wore the Hokage robes.

"Nanami, understand I only tell you what I'm about to, so that you may understand the full scope of the circumstances surrounding this young boy," the old man began.

"He has a name. I advise you use it," the woman said with a slight narrowing of her eyes. Hiruzen's fist clenched at that, the woman having so callously dismissed his stake in the boy's safety off a mere slip of the tongue, nothing more. "Know right now that I do not have any intention of leaving someone like me here, and that you are in no position to stop me."

'Like her? Is she a Jinchuriki as well...?' Hiruzen mused to himself, though dismissed the motion immediately. The only green-haired Jinchuriki that was a woman belonged to Taki, and she was barely Naruto's age, so this woman couldn't be her. "Perhaps you should save such reservations for after you learn of the circumstances."

"Or I could just leave now and kill anyone who attempts to stop me," the woman replied without missing a beat. The subtle motion of her hand to the boy's jugular and the slight elongating of her nails, proved she was not above using the boy as a hostage to insure both her own, and his safety. The latter of which should never have been an issue within his own village. And with those words and thoughts in mind, Hiruzen got as close to a swear to secrecy as he could out of the woman before he began his tale.

"Eight years ago, the Kyuubi no Yoko, whose tails could shatter mountains and sent tidal waves crashing to the shores, appeared out of nowhere and attacked our village. Our ninja fought valiantly, but nothing seemed to even faze the creature," Sarutobi explained, giving the young woman the paraphrased version. "Then, the Yondaime Hokage of our village, Minato Namikaze, used a forbidden fuinjutsu to seal the beast into a human body, stripping it from the living world. However, those who know about it see the boy as only the demon itself, and not the prison for the demon that would very well destroy their village."

"Kyuubi?" Nanami asked quietly. "I had always thought it was a legend. A fairy tale to keep children inside at night."

"Well it is true," Sarutobi lamented. "The villagers despise him. They are simply too blinded by hate for the beast to see the child keeping it at bay. We lost a lot of shinobi and kunoichi that day, and they refuse to think clearly due to their grief."

"When I saw him this evening, all I saw was a scared child," Nanami stated. "If he truly were the demon incarnate, this village would've surely been destroyed long ago, and the Kyuubi on its way."

"That's likely true," Sarutobi said. "Still, I am a retired ninja, and I have lost too much power to do anything to actually protect him. For that, I can never hope to be forgiven. I only wish there were something I could do."

For a few minutes, the two simply sat there, the only sound being the soft snoring of the now-healed blond in Nanami's lap.

"Well... Storytime was nice and all, but I think it's time for the two of us to take our leave," Nanami stated as she hefted the boy into her arms.

"Matte. You can't just take him," Hiruzen argued.

"Old man, I believe you need to make a decision, here and now," Nanami said as she leveled a neutral stare at him, though the killing intent that flooded the room was anything but. "You can either let the boy go, give him his freedom, and give him the option to come back of his own volition. Or, you can hold him here against his will, the ramifications of his birth completely unknown to him, and have the Kyuubi overwhelm his soul when, not if, when, he becomes overcome by hatred and anger to the point that he is beyond saving. It's your choice. You have five seconds to make the right one."

Five.

Could he really do this? Could Hiruzen just let the Yondaime's legacy go?

Four.

Nanami's words held some truth, but there were those who cared for the boy.

Three.

Of the number of people that did care for him could only be counted on one hand.

Two.

And the risks far outweighed the reward if Naruto was forced to stay.

On-

"Alright... You win..." Hiruzen sighed, right before the woman's hand fully clasped around the doorknob.

"Beg pardon?" she said, her withdrawn hand ever-so-slowly reaching for the doorknob once again.

"If Naruto is overcome by hatred, and by extension, the Kyuubi, then the sacrifices made to seal the beast away will have been four naught, and his own soul may be lost forever," Hiruzen sighed. 'This is for the best,' he told himself as he reached into his desk. "At the very least, I want to give him the tools to become a successful shinobi, whether he chooses to return to Konoha or not in six year's time," he said handing out a set of training scrolls, the basics of what he'd need to graduate the Genin Exam; it always helped to be prepared.

"I hope you aren't doing this under the assumption that Naruto will return simply because you wish it," Nanami stated as she took the extended scrolls.

"No... No, I'm not," Hiruzen sighed. "Just... Promise me you'll give him the best care you can."

"Considering the state he was in when I found him, I doubt that will be of any difficulty," the woman said plainly as she took the boy and left, Hiruzen quickly coming to regret his decision, even if it was the right one.

By the time morning had come about, Nanami and the sleeping blond in her arms were already at the village gate. When the sun's first rays crested the horizon, Konoha was slowly illuminated, and the blond in her arms began to stir. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of the woman who had saved his life the night before, now knowing that what had happened was not a dream. Getting to his feet, the greenette explained what had transpired while he was out... and he couldn't be happier.

"So tell me, Naruto-kun. Do you intend to return to this place?" Nanami questioned as they passed through the village gates.

"I... I'm not sure," the blond answered.

"That's alright. You're in no rush," the woman said plainly as she guided him out, holding him by the hand so he wouldn't lose his nerve.

"Nanami... nee-chan..." the blond said gauging what her response would be from being addressed as such. "What are we going to do now?"

"We're going to go and look for my older brother," she said with a placid smile. "Now come on. Let's get going shall we?" 'He doesn't need to know my intentions. Once we meet up, I will have Shichika train him in my stead.'

"Okay Nanami-nee-chan," Naruto replied happily, a smile on his face as he lightly squeezed the woman's hand, the two walking off into the morning light. At the same time up in the Hokage tower, while Hiruzen was sad to see Naruto go, a part of him was happy as he saw the boy's truly happy smile through the crystal ball on his desk.

'Nanami Yasuri. Please take care of Naruto. I haven't seen him smile like that in a very long time, if ever, and I would like to think I made the right decision in leaving him in your care.'

For the record, Naruto is currently 8 in case that hasn't been obvious enough.